Egg-eating male

Hello everyone, this is an excellent forum! I have a quick question for you experienced breeders out there. I have a very young couple that has been displaying pairing behavior for several weeks now (Red turqoise and blue leopard). Last night I saw the female lay eggs (finally) and to my utter disappointment the male followed right behind her and ate every egg she laid. > My questions are: will this behavior most likely continue? Could moving them to their own tank possibly help the problem? (They are in a large planted tank right now with 14 other discus and some biotodoma). Also, could this behavior have anything to do with their young age(the female isn't even full grown yet, and the male is only 6-8 months old). Any comments/suggestions would really help.
Thank you very much.

hey,
do not move them yet. This is normal behavior. Males don't mature as early as females do; they'll be 12-15 months before they can fertilize the eggs. Until then they'll eat them most likely. Most people have at least 5 or 6 spawns eaten before they get fertilized, so don't move them yet (it increases parenting skills) and wait until you get wigglers, then give 'em their own home after a few tries guarding them from the other fish. Just give it time and it'll work out for ya.
Brad

Brad,
Thank you so much for the reply, I've been contemplating moving this pair for awhile now. I'll take your advice and wait awhile- no sense in setting up another tank unless I know they can produce wigglers(I'm not even 100% sure the other one is a male). It's good to know that this can be normal because I really want to keep this pair together. The female is a blue leopard I got from Mike Wells and she is BEEEEEAAAAUUUUUTIFUL! The babies these two would produce would be SOOOOO nice ;D 8)

[DarkDiscus]

BBI,

I agree with Brad. The male is extremely young, assuming it is a male, and is probably only thinking about food, NOT about sex. In a few months, he will likely get more competent and interests.

Of course if it is a female, you are in for a lot more egg eating...

John